Mosaic: God Usopp Is My Spirit Animal

If you know me then you know that I LOVE One Piece. Let’s be real, I’m probably obsessed with it. *If you want me to love you forever by me anything with Bepo on it*

The other day I was rewatching videos on Youtube by Tekking101and he said something like, “If we were to magically transport into the One Piece world we would all be Usopp.”

I’m not going to lie, I was sad. I love Roronoa Zoro. I play samurai by myself all the time. Don’t judge me.

But, as I was rewatching the Dressrosa arc I came around to it.

For those of you that don’t know, Usopp is one of the weakest characters on the Strawhat crew. He starts off the series by being cowardly. He was a trickster that would weave tales that made him sound better than he was only to use deception to get out of fights. He literally has a Pinocchio nose.

Usopp’s main dream is to be a brave warrior of the sea like his father.

As the series progresses we slowly see the changes in Usopp. He still doesn’t like confrontation but is willing to be brave and take chances. It’s like he’s realizing that in order to be what he dreams he’s going to have to do things he’s uncomfortable with.

And that is where it finally clicked.

God Usopp is my spirit animal.

For a long time, I was a coward. I lived my life under the expectations of others. Putting their dreams and ambitions for me above my own. Just like Usopp, I had created an alter ego to do the things I always wanted to do. He had Sogeking. I had Valentina. I dreamed of being something other than I was but my fear kept me rooted to the spot. It wasn’t until life came and pushed me that I started to change.

Just like Usopp.

In the Sabaody arc, Usopp was forced by Kuma to be on his own. For two year he trained and got stronger until he was ready to make his comeback. Not only was he wiser but he also got finer.

Just like me.

I was all set to graduate and go to law school when I just…broke. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sell my soul for a degree that only my parents wanted. So, I dropped out of school and spent the next three years growing, changing, and, most importantly writing.

I created the stories that I had stored away in my heart. And, when I thought I was ready, I self-published and queried publishing houses and agents. That was the real training. Every rejection, every criticism, made me stronger.

So, when I got signed and made my comeback, not only was I wiser but, yeah, I was a little bit finer too.

Which brings me back to the Dressrosa arc, a few months after his comeback, Usopp the Coward was relabeled as God Usopp. A few months after I made my comeback, I was nominated for the author of the year.

So yeah, I’m trying every day to be a little braver, to push myself a little further, and to try something different. Is it easy? Hell no. I’m scared about sixty percent of the time. Which, compared to the eighty percent I used to be at, is progress.

In 2019, I hope to be more like my spirit animal, God Usopp. A coward trying my hardest to be a brave warrior.